Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 8th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I am very happy to support it. I remember that a couple of years ago, the hon. Gentleman asked every individual MP to identify companies in their constituencies that had made major manufacturing innovations. I praise the work that this all-party group is doing.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has agreed to see my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) and me on Monday on the question of City Link. We are grateful for that and look forward to meeting him. Will he take the opportunity now, at probably the last question of this Question Time, to make clear personally how much he deprecates the cynical and disgraceful behaviour of the owners of City Link and put that on the record? No behaviour like this can be justified in the 21st century—it belongs to the 19th century, if it belongs anywhere at all. Will he make that clear today?

Amendment of the Law

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 20th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Yes, I will address the issue of youth unemployment and the hon. Gentleman is right to raise it. This is an issue that has, of course, been with us for many years, including under the previous Government when economic conditions were much more benign. Youth unemployment is currently at about 20%, but of course that includes many full-time students. The key trend is that youth unemployment is now declining rapidly. It is certainly less now than the level we inherited, and we have a whole set of policies designed to deal with it in a systematic way.

The shadow Chancellor put forward the idea of a youth guarantee. The problem that that presents is this: how can a job be guaranteed other than through the public sector? Of course guaranteeing a public sector job takes people off the dole, but it also creates a permanent need for subsidy and support. What we have done is create a route that allows people who are not going into full-time higher education to develop the preconditions for proper apprenticeships through traineeships, basic academic requirements and work experience, and then find their way into true apprenticeship training, which has been an enormous success: it has doubled since we came to office. The measures announced in the Budget statement yesterday will enable a further 100,000 people under 24 to be given apprenticeship training, and the quality improvements that we have made are driving up demand and supply at the same time. This is a much better way of dealing with young people who are out of work than creating artificial jobs.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

Many Labour Members are very pleased about the improvement in the employment situation that has taken place over the last six months or so—indeed, over the last year or so. However, is not the big issue—apart from the caveats relating to short-time working and zero-hours contracts—the fact that the productive capacity of the economy seems to have shrunk, and productivity per worker has certainly shrunk? That is casting a very grave shadow over the length of the recovery that we might have expected. What are the Government planning to do about it?

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman’s analysis is spot on. Of course that is what has happened. We have managed to avoid mass unemployment, but the average productivity level has fallen. If we are to grow, and if living standards are to grow—that seems to be the focus of the debate—productivity must rise, which prompts the question of how we do it. We are currently doing it in an environment that is severely constrained. We must remember—and I think that the shadow Chancellor often forgets this—that one of the massive legacies of the crisis was the structural deficit. A deficit of that kind does not go away when growth increases; it is there, it is structural, and it will have to be dealt with. The structural deficit, defined as we defined it when we formed the coalition, has fallen from about 5.4% of GDP to 2.7%. We are nearly halfway, but we have to continue the job, and the next Government will have to continue the job. In that context, we must proceed with an agenda of raising productivity and growth.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 13th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

May I first anticipate the House’s disappointment that I am answering this question, rather than my colleague, the Under-Secretary of State for Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock)? He is being a role model for our policy of shared parental leave and is currently nursing Humphrey Hancock, who was born a few days ago.

My hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Rebecca Harris) has seen the benefits of the growth of apprenticeships, which is one of the Government’s big success stories. The number has grown from 500 at the beginning of this Government to 870 at the latest count. My hon. Friend is right that there are particular obstacles for small business, but companies with fewer than 200 employees already take 80% of all the apprenticeships in the country. We are trying to improve the service. One of the latest developments is the introduction of a website to make it much easier to access the NAS and its services.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

I am sure the whole House will wish Humphrey a speedy recovery.

The Opposition are not at all disappointed that the Secretary of State has stepped into the breach. Although his Department has achieved some success on apprentices, the construction industry is still falling behind its own targets. If we are to get the investment programme under way, it is vital to increase it. Will the Secretary of State give that some attention and get cracking with it?

[Vince Cable]

I will. Indeed, at the beginning of the week I chaired a meeting of the construction industry’s council, which we have put together. Its members acknowledged that skills were one of their key constraints, one of the problems being that the construction industry has been through a very deep, cyclical depression, which has had a major knock-on effect on skills. We are now working with it to boost skills, so that the upswing in the industry that we are beginning to see is not impeded by the shortage of key people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Yes. Apprenticeships increasingly cover the service sector as well as the traditional manufacturing and construction sectors, and the digital sector is an important part of that. It depends on high technology and high skill levels, and as a result is absolutely crucial.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

May I put it to the Secretary of State—as I did on the last occasion when I questioned him on this issue—that while the overall numbers are very good, there are certain problems in individual sectors such as the construction industry? If we do not ensure that the number of apprenticeships in that important sector is much greater than it is now, we shall find when the national infrastructure plan takes off, as it must eventually—indeed, with the new team behind it, it will no doubt do so in the very near future—that we do not have the apprenticeships and the manpower skills in the industry that would enable us to benefit from it.

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is right. The programme must be demand-led and business-led. When a sector is struggling, as the construction sector currently is, that affects the demand for training; but, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the sector is well organised, with a levy system and a skills training board. We certainly want to see a substantial number of additional trained specialists in the construction sector, so that we do not have to rely on people coming from overseas to do the work, as we often have in the past.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 15th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Britain is the third-best attractor in the world of direct foreign investment and the leading country in Europe. That remains the case; indeed, the position has been strengthened by the decisions we have taken over the past 18 months.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Secretary of State knows that this news is very welcome throughout the House and that we are delighted to see new jobs and production coming to the UK. I gather that JLR is doing that at Halewood, as well as Nissan, which is great news. Is there a danger, however, that the money for the investments being supported by the Government could be coming from the regional growth fund? If that is the case, will he confirm that there will be enough funds in it? Is there a danger of the smaller companies that are applying being crowded out? It is a challenge fund, as he knows, and on those grounds even very good and worthwhile projects could be rejected.

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that the regional growth fund played an important part in key decisions such as Nissan’s decision to expand its operation in the UK. There is, of course, a limited amount of money; it is a challenge fund. It is because we recognise that the regional growth fund is a very valuable source of funding that we have extended it by a further £1 billion, and there is currently a new process of application taking place.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 8th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Our estimate is that roughly a third of all regional growth fund money is going to SMEs, and there are several routes through which it goes. First, there are packets of SME loans, one of which was in Liverpool, while another is in Plymouth. Indeed, I saw that one a couple of weeks ago, and it is going extraordinarily well. There are specifically tailored schemes—for example, the RBS-HSBC scheme linked to asset finance—and programme bids, as in Manchester, all of which are targeted at SMEs.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State will be aware that in the last round an SME in Coventry was turned down for a major investment from the regional growth fund. Despite the fact that the council and, more importantly, the local enterprise partnership were in full support, the company was turned down—I am not particularly grumbling about the decision, disappointed though we were, of course—on the grounds that the ownership was wrong. Will the Minister put in place better criteria for sifting schemes locally and regionally? The company wasted an awful lot of time and money in preparing its bid.

[Vince Cable]

I would certainly be happy to look into the background of that particular case. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have an impartial process. Applications come to Ministers and then go through Sir Ian Wrigglesworth and Lord Heseltine, who sift and assess them properly. There is a new round for the regional growth fund, and if the project that the hon. Gentleman mentions can be reworked, we would certainly be very happy to look at it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Yes, it is a brilliantly successful initiative. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) on the efforts that they put into developing it, and all the hon. Members who have contributed—50 so far, I think, and I hope others will do so. We shall have a great virtual exhibition next year for the Olympics.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

Is the Minister aware that one of the most useful things he could do to promote British manufacturing would be to get the banks together to come up with a financing package for the Bombardier contract that matched the Siemens one? That is directly within his responsibilities, and I think that the package is now being negotiated. It would be something that the banks could do, for once, to back British industry instead of filling their own pockets.

[Vince Cable]

The Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk), has already explained the background to the Bombardier contract. It was confined to very narrow tendering terms of reference that, in the circumstances, we could not avoid, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to focus on how public procurement can be used, within European rules, to support British industry. I have taken an initiative with the Secretary of State for Transport to try to make sure that, in future, tenders do reflect that priority.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 9th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

My hon. Friend is right that there is a problem of discouraged demand. We have just launched a major survey to drill down a little further into the complex facts of bank lending and to find out how serious the problem of discouraged demand actually is. However, this is not just a question of monitoring the situation. A key element of the Merlin agreement is that senior executives in the banks will have their remuneration linked to their performance on small business lending. I am currently insisting that they provide more information about how those incentives work.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State must realise that the Merlin agreement is a busted flush and that no good is coming from it. The continuing failure of the banking sector to meet the minimum targets, meaning that there continues to be no new net lending, is really not acceptable. As the hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon) has just said, the terms and conditions for the loans that are being made are often very penal. Can the Secretary of State get into that? There is no point in monitoring it; we want him to examine what is going on and to come forward with concrete proposals to improve the situation.

Amendment of the Law

Debate between Geoffrey Robinson and Vince Cable

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I do not know when the right hon. Gentleman last opened a financial newspaper. If he had done so recently, he would know that all the countries on the periphery of Europe that have been hit by the rising cost of capital are in very acute financial crisis, which we have avoided. We have German interest rates, and at the same time we are carrying a deficit on the scale of the most debt-ridden economies such as Ireland and Portugal.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

One thing the Opposition can claim is that there was stability in the bond market, which we have been able to continue this year in order to borrow at reasonable rates. As the Business Secretary knows, directly and indirectly, although we have long-term rates in the bond markets, the main problem is that if small companies can borrow at all—very few of the small and medium sector singled out by the Chancellor and the Government as the key area of expansion are able to do so—it is only at exorbitant rates. What are the Government going to do about it?

[Vince Cable]

In the earlier part of his comments, the hon. Gentleman was right to acknowledge how important interest rates are. He is also right to say that because of the badly damaged banking system, small companies have an extreme problem with lending. That is why the Chancellor and I have been dealing with the banks to try to get them to reach an agreement, which they now have, to extend considerably the amount of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises. That was one of the earliest decisions we had to make—to focus on access to capital.

While we are dealing with the issue of what has to be cut, I would like to ask the Opposition what they would do. The right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden) wants us to run a bigger deficit. What would the Opposition cut? It is a question I often pose to my opposite numbers in the BIS team. They had planned a 25% cut in departmental spending, which is what I am doing. We are cutting a lot of things—very painfully—so I ask the Opposition what they would do, but we have not yet had a single suggestion about what they would do instead.

Government Members often raise that sort of question, but it is becoming obvious that the natives opposite are also getting restless. I noticed that the right hon. Member for Salford and Eccles (Hazel Blears)recently said that the Labour party needs to be

“explicit about cuts… The public expects us to at least give a broad direction—but I think they are worried that we haven’t been as clear as we ought to be”.

Another senior Labour Member of Parliament—who, perhaps wisely, remained anonymous—told the Financial Times:

“It can’t be that hard for us to say what we would cut, or at least give a few examples, for goodness’ sake.”

[Interruption.] Beneath the shouting, those are the questions that Labour Members are asking themselves, and they are absolutely right to do so.